A 26-foot refrigerated truck that can hold as much as 10,000 pounds of food is the latest, most visible sign of how the Freestore Foodbank is changing to serve the growing ranks of the region’s poor.

The Freestore soon will unveil the new mobile food pantry to better serve the expanding ranks of hungry families in its 20-county coverage area. But the agency has for years been changing its business model and service delivery methods to respond to the needs of its clients and the companies that keep food on its shelves.

“Nimble is what we feel like we’re having to be these days,” said Freestore Foodbank CEO John Young.

It’s not just that the need is growing, although it is to be sure. The Freestore has seen a 27 percent increase in requests for help year-over-year at its Liberty Street location in Over-the-Rhine alone.

And Young estimates most of the 400 nonprofit agencies that the Freestore supplies with food – such as soup kitchens and homeless shelters – have seen similar increases.

Changing method of supply

The whole means of supplying the agency with food has changed, too, Young said.

In years past, the Free­store Foodbank could rely on corporate stock overruns or misprinted labels for tons of nonperishable food items that couldn’t be sold in stores for whatever reasons.

But corporations have become much more efficient.

So the Freestore Foodbank has been going directly to retailers, such as Kroger, Bigg’s, Sam’s Clubs and Walmart. Those stores donate food that would otherwise end up in the trash, Young said. Often that includes perishable items such as dairy products, produce and bread.

In the past, the Freestore has had to turn down loads of those goods because it couldn’t distribute them fast enough, Young said.

But the Kraft Foods Mobile Food Pantry, to be officially unveiled June 24, will make it possible to distribute such perishable food to agency partners in nine of the more remote counties that the Freestore serves, he said. They are Grant, Gallatin, Boone and Owen counties in Kentucky; Ohio and Switzerland counties in Indiana; and Clinton, Highland and Pike counties in Ohio.

The Freestore Food­bank is one of only seven organizations nationwide to receive one of the mobile food pantries from Kraft this year. Kraft picked the markets based on need and where its employees live and work, the company said.

The organization’s selection underscores its status as an innovator that is respected nationwide, local supporters said.

“The Freestore is a terrific example of a nonprofit that is really addressing the changing nature of their clients and the environment head-on,” said Ellen Gilligan, vice president of community investment at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. “Even as a large organization, they are acting very nimbly, which is exactly what is needed during this period of time.”

The Freestore also has placed added emphasis on its partnership with the Hamilton County Department of Job & Family Services. The county employs staffers who work with the agency to help its clients determine their eligibility for assistance such as Medicaid or food stamps.

“We share a lot of the same families,” said Moira Weir, director of the county department.

And many of those clients can be helped at the Freestore without having to go to the county’s main office, where the lines are growing longer each month.

At this time last year, the department averaged 45,000 people through its doors each month. Now that figure has reached 58,000 people per month, she said.

With state budget cuts forcing staff cuts at the county level, partnerships with agencies such as the Freestore are becoming more important than ever to serve the community’s growing needs, Weir said.

“They’re always saying, ‘How can we help?’” she said. “They’re trying to pick up where they can.”

To that end, the Freestore also has expanded hours at its Liberty Street location this summer to serve its growing number of working families.

The facility will stay open until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays through the last Wednesday in August.

“We’re trying to figure out any way we can to reach out to the people who are struggling against this onslaught of economic challenge,” Young said.

Unveiling new image, too

The mission, he stressed, is bigger than hunger. The Freestore aims to help its clients toward financial stability by helping connect them with as many programs and resources as possible.

The organization, in fact, will unveil a new logo designed pro bono by downtown design firm LPK that stresses that broader mission. It consists of a gold oval, the color of an autumn harvest, and features the image of a tree and the words “food,” “connection” and “hope.”

“It really represents the idea that addressing hunger lets us have conversations with our clients about other issues,” said Brian MacConnell, the Freestore’s vice president of strategic planning and communications.

“We’ve always had these wrap-around services where food has been the beginning of the relationship.”

During these times, Young said, it’s more important than ever that the community understands that.